Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #83: Winners vs. missed opportunities in 2025 – and finance tips for entrepreneurs
Duma Mxenge (Head of Business and Market Development at Satrix) joined me right at the start of the year to talk about some of the things we would be looking out for in the markets this year. With the benefit of hindsight, we could now dig into some of our winners, overall surprises and missed opportunities in 2025. We also took the opportunity to talk about the nuances for entrepreneurs when it comes to personal financial management.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #82: WeBuyCars – from dealer revolution to digital evolution
WeBuyCars is an excellent example of a disruptor in the South African market, having completely changed the way people buy and especially sell their vehicles. As a sign of just how valuable the data and technology systems are, WeBuyCars has announced that Chief Digital Officer Wynand Beukes will also take the role of Deputy CEO as part of succession planning at the group. CEO Faan van der Walt isn't going anywhere just yet though - he still has plenty of energy to give the group. Both Faan and Wynand joined me to discuss the business and the road ahead.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #81: Lesaka Technologies – disrupting through distribution to build a fintech giant
With a growth strategy that is grounded firmly in the belief that Southern Africa offers one of the most exciting opportunities in the world today, Lesaka Technologies is executing from a tried-and-tested playbook of disruption in the fintech space. To explain the opportunity and how Lesaka's business model is built to win, Executive Chairman Ali Mazanderani joined me on this podcast.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #80: Taming the herd – how to navigate bubbles, biases and big market moves
Kingsley Williams is the Chief Investment Officer at Satrix, which means he has built his career around being a student of the markets. He started working right before the dot com bubble, so Kingsley has seen exactly what happens when you have herd mentality in the markets.
Bubbles. Biases. Big market moves and the way they make people behave - it's all here in this great conversation around how to stay sane in a market that is driven by emotion, and one of the most dangerous human traits of all: greed.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #79: Fintech meets frontier markets – now on the JSE
Optasia is listing on the JSE, which means that South African investors will have the opportunity to invest in this exciting fintech business. With a proprietary platform and extensive relationships across numerous emerging and frontier markets, Optasia builds bridges between financial institutions and traditionally unbanked consumers seeking airtime credit and microfinance solutions. To explain how the business works, Salvador Anglada (CEO, Optasia) joined me for this detailed discussion.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #78: Buying a house? Buy smarter with data
We all need somewhere to live, but that doesn't mean that buying property should be the default decision. Most of all, it doesn't mean that buying any property at any price is sensible. Data-led decision making is crucial when buying a home, especially in South Africa where house prices don't automatically go up. Hayley Ivins-Downes of Lightstone Property joined me to discuss the facts around property values and trends in South Africa.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #77: What AI means for real-world business – and for your job
AI has dominated the headlines this year and is the cause of seemingly bottomless investment in markets like the US. This is technology theatre at its finest, accompanied by flashy presentations and even flashier share prices at the world's biggest tech companies. But what impact is it actually having on the corporates on the ground who are the eventual users of the service? And what does it mean for jobs? Shane Cooper of Forvis Mazars in South Africa joined me to unpack these topics.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #76: How private cloud prepares you for a rainy day
Steve Porter gets out of bed every day to make sure that the clients of Metrofile Cloud can keep their businesses running when disaster strikes. In a world of public cloud offerings with all the bells and whistles, Metrofile Cloud's private cloud business takes a no-nonsense approach to delivering cloud services to South African businesses of all sizes - and with a real person on the other end of the phone when you need help. In this podcast, he explains how private cloud differs to public cloud.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #75: A structured approach to global equity exposure
We know that global equities have outperformed global bonds and money market investments over the long term, but this comes with the risk of higher volatility. With a track record in structured products spanning 23 years, Investec has seen practically every type of market cycle play out. Japie Lubbe brings his extensive experience to this discussion, explaining the approach to structured global equity exposure taken by Advanced Investment Holdings in the current environment.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #74: Start young, stay invested – and use the digital tools at your disposal (with Lauren Jacobs of Satrix)
The digital generation has access to more information and tools than ever before. But the more things change, the more they stay the same: one of the most powerful tools of all remains the benefit of starting young and entrenching the right money habits from as early as possible in your life. Lauren Jacobs of Satrix joined me for a candid discussion about personal finance and investing.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #73: STADIO – A bright future for students and shareholders
STADIO Holdings is enjoying excellent support in the market for its strategy, evidenced by a strong share price performance in a year when the shine has come off many SA Inc. stocks. This begs the question: how are they getting it right? CEO Chris Vorster and CFO Ishak Kula joined me on this podcast to explain how the growth strategy is playing out.
